1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to slide fasteners, and more particularly to a slider for slide fastener.
2. Prior Art
Slide fastener sliders 10 are known which generally comprise, as shown in FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings, a slider body 11 including upper and lower (right and left in this Figure) wings 12,13 joined at their front end 12a so as to define between the wings 12,13 a Y-shaped guide channel 14 for the passage of a pair of opposed coupling element rows of the slide fastener. The prior slider 10 has an arch-shaped lug 15 projecting from the front end 12a of the upper wing 12 over the top surface 12b of the upper wing and terminating short of the rear end 12c thereof. The lug 15 has a bent free end 15a directed toward the top surface 12b of the upper wing 12 and spaced apart therefrom by a gap described below. The lug 15 extends loosely through an opening 16a (FIGS. 7 and 9) of a pull tab 16, thus pivotably connecting the pull tab 16 to the slider body 11.
In assembly, the gap between the free end 15a of the lug 15 and the top surface 12b of the upper wing 12 is initially large enough to allow the pull tab 16 to be threaded on the lug 15. The lug 15, with the pull tab 16 thus mounted thereon, is then bent or deformed so as to prevent the pull tab 16 from being dismounted. During this deforming, the free end 15a of the lug 15 is temporarily in contact with the top surface 12b of the upper wing 12 when the deforming force is applied; however, the lug 15 slightly springs back due to its resiliency, when the deforming force is removed, to such an extent that the gap s is small enough to prevent the pull tab 16 from being dismounted.
Because of the gap s, the prior slider 10 has the following problem. In the manufacture of slide fasteners, sliders having been assembled are fed successively from a hopper (not shown) of known construction to the next station by a parts feeder of known construction, only a guide 17 (FIGS. 6-9) of which is illustrated for clarity. During this feeding, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the successive sliders 10 (only one illustrated for clarity) are mounted astride of the guide 17, i.e. with the upper and lower wings 12,13 disposed on opposite sides of the guide 17. However, since the sliders are in disorderly position in the hopper, some of them tend to be mounted on the guide 17 in such a manner that the guide 17 extends through the gap s between the upper wing 12 and the lug's free end 15a, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. This improper mounting not only causes nonsmooth feeding of the successive sliders 10 (only one illustrated for clarity), but also causes the guide 17 to be easily deformed or otherwise damaged.
Yet, if the amount of the deforming force to be applied to the lug 15 were to be increased in an attempt to minimize the gap s, the lug 15 would be so excessively deformed as to impair the pivotal movement of the pull tab 16. Further, with such an excessively deformed lug, the slider would be unsightly.